Plan for farm transfer now, aging farmers told

Posted By Angela Brown, The Daily Graphic

Updated 2 months ago

Death and dying are not the easiest subjects of conversation, but when the future of the farm is at stake it is important to discuss the inevitable.

Farm succession planning was the topic for discussion at a seminar at the William Glesby Centre in Portage la Prairie on Monday.

Elaine Froese, author of Planting the Seeds of Hope, made a presentation about the need for families to communicate their intentions and desires for the future of the farm as early as possible.

"The main thing with that is putting together how you want your business to transfer, which is your succession plan. (That) is different from how you want it to be when you die, which is your estate plan," she said.

The BDO Dunwoody-sponsored event aimed to introduce farmers to the value of planning for their retirements and having a sound strategy for how their farm will be managed after they die.

About 70 area producers and representatives of financial institutions attended the event.

"Why it is so important is we are talking about multi-million dollar businesses, so it is the viability of the future of the business," Froese said. "If you are a farm kid and you've worked for 25 years with your dad and all of a sudden he dies and mom is gone, and you wake up in the morning and find out the farm is not yours so you have to share it with your non-farming siblings … you are in a really big mess. It's important for everyone just to create certainty around everyone's future."

abrown@cpheraldleader.com

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